How Did The T-1000 Time Travel? Terminator 2 Judgment Day

How was the T-1000 able to time travel when it is not organic? I explore several theories and give my favourite
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[@Bobcat173rd]

The T-1000 was wearing his plot armor.

[@z0b0und49]

Most People are not going to get it😂

[@-m.d.n-9019]

Ha. Got it.

me too xD

[@GnosticAtheist]

Its actually weird, when it came out that question was not raised. I cant even remember it mentioned by my friends. That said, my friends were all 420 blazing so whatever.

[@timmythistle6615]

@@z0b0und49 I don't get it. Please explain.

[@DavidWonn]

I always assumed the T-1000 had an organic shell during the time travel (as the 800 did and others) and rid itself of it sometime shortly after successfully traveling through time, which was not seen during the movie.

[@chocciechippie4770]

Wow! That makes total sense!

[@sponge2068]

I believe Cameron originally wanted this to be in the movie but decided against it.

[@philipchurch8772]

What if the t-1000 is ripped apart in time travel but can still reassemble it's liquid metal body?

[@zyriuz2]

Andrew Church depends how far it scatters as we see in t2 after the chase from the mental hospital the piece lost has no "brain" and it doesnt change itself unless the larger mass comes closer to it.

[@Chuckdwolf]

Andrew Church That's what I was thinking too. It may take some time, to pull itself back together, but ultimately it can survive the process. After all, wouldn't this be something Skynet, would work on? Either by making a terminator that can survive the process without the synthetic skin, or by improving on the time displacement module itself.

[@XouZ88]

I think the T-1000 don't get ripped apart because because it should be able to counter that effect since it can change shape. However that wouldn't explain how the T-X time traveled, but that's not a James Cameron movie, and might not be fully thought through.

[@RavenHawkTech]

We see his naked body (that part technically makes the least sense because why would he have to be naked?) so there is no pod, and he is not broken apart.

[@salvatronprime9882]

This seems to make the most sense to me. T-1000 does get "ripped apart" but we already know it has the ability to reshape and repair itself. Easy fix.

[@gluemoae]

Here's a theory: James Cameron cares less about this stuff than do nerds.

[@paradigm_sh1ft532]

That's no theory. It's a scientific fact!

[@hectorjimenez1150]

That's just a theory, a film theory

[@LoveToSpootch]

@@hectorjimenez1150 Na, unlike "film theory/game theory" this one actually hold up in the end.

[@volkerball85]

Maybe now, but not back then. You're underestimating his obsessive attention to details. The fact that this plot hole exists at all is an aberration when it comes to his earlier works.

[@paradigmlost7582]

Dr. Silberman doesn't trust your theory.

[@ral_ordo5157]

I say it rode in a meat sack like a temporary bio womb which is destroyed on entering the time line.

[@awesomekaleb15]

Nuh. The time machine was just a more advanced version of the first time machine that allowed inorganic matter to travel through. That would make more sense just saying

[@nedkelly3251]

@@awesomekaleb15 I have judgement day 3d on blue ray and it says in the extras that the T1000 did travel in a flesh pod, the only reason they didn't include the scene was because it would confuse viewers.

[@ryanbutlerartcolorist651]

I agree with this one. A super thin skin layer, just for the purpose of time travel that is sloughed off upon arrival isn't far fetched. He's like a humanoid metal sausage lol.

[@liptonicetea274]

Maybe that's why they were harvesting humans

[@Ghidorah96]

Kaleb Cosgrove if they had that they'd just send a hundred T-800s and wreck the past

[@Sammedi1]

I read something about the cocoon a long time ago and if memory serves me apparently the creators wanted to include that but ended up cutting it by the end of production so to me it is the most plausible explanation, although the theory that it can also mimic human cells is also very good as we all know the T-1000 always turns back to his alloy form before changing into someone else suggesting he need to be in his base form before he can reconfigure.

[@robm6726]

I dont think the director was thinking that far ahead

[@OkamiSatsujin]

I entirely agree with you here. The director just said, time travel morphing terminator. Everybody was just like, hell yeah after! Lol

[@TheSYPHERIA]

You're lying

[@mr.fettesq.7705]

I don't believe for a second that James Cameron didn't think far enough ahead in order to cover this conundrum. I mean it's James Cameron, come on...?

[@mr.fettesq.7705]

Alien Alien bullshit...I call bullshit. There's absolutely no chance you almost walked out of T2 in the theatres. Don't believe you.

[@OkamiSatsujin]

Mr. Fett Esq. that’s just nonsense. It’s like saying he could have predicted how quantum computing would influence space travel and hyper sleep when he did avatar.

[@TheMsLourdes]

Or... prior to time travel, the T-1000s are sprayed with an algae coating... which is alive and thin and the T1000series skin just holds it in place like glue. Total cost: $1.75 and an algae pool.

[@AlgaeEater09]

This is accurate. I would know, I'm an algaeeater

[@Ag3nt0fCha0s]

@@AlgaeEater09 thank you for your professional opinion. How would you lkke to be paid?

[@AlgaeEater09]

@@Ag3nt0fCha0s in algae

[@tatersmcmashtermind7064]

Bro just put the T-1000 in a fleshy kinder surprise egg. Then just tell him to wait for a while. Then he can just beyblade his way out. Bam

[@joelalfaro2904]

I like that explanation.

[@greyworld6242]

I wonder if this also applies to the T-3000 and T-5000? Also T-infinity, really? Thanos are you trolling?

[@itsyaboidaniel2919]

Your comment says edited already so you better get ready to edit again, because the video is ABOUT the T-1000, so saying "if this also applies to the T-1000" doesn't make sense, I think you mean (or at least should mean) T-3000,

[@greyworld6242]

It's Ya Boi Daniel oh damn my bad thanks for that.

[@itsyaboidaniel2919]

It's all good fam

[@rohanwinchester9144]

T-5000 was never shown time travelling. T-3000 has a outer layer of organic cells which can be used for time travel. The Gaurdian used a layer to destroy the upper organic cells of the T-3000 which caused it's destruction when it got caught in the TDE.

[@monstamos13]

😂😂😂😂

[@mysteryman4915]

Simple answer: they made an organic sleeve that contained it for the jump and then discarded upon completion.

[@aislemontecristo]

An old classic. Personally I always assumed it does replicate the human exterior to such degree that it turns out as good as synthetic flesh. But this is one of those things that become more interesting as long as they remain open to imagination. 😉

[@Phoenix2312]

Always what i thought! Its simple and effective!

[@RHawkins6]

That was my impression as well, it also explains the T-X, the T-1000 was always seemingly slowed by impacts more than the T-800 so merging the two designs would be the natural upgrade. It would also explain why both appear in an existing naked form in the past and not have to sample someone straight away.

[@GeekedOutNeckbeard]

I agree.. I never even thought of it. He turns human and can replicate the skin and weapons he is forming. As long as he touches a human or sees a human he can turn into them. Must mean his skin becomes like a human and therefore traveling through the timestream he won't be ripped apart. It's really easy to see. People don't think the basics.. Just want the most out of this world stupid theory.

[@ktotheswiss1617]

In the comics, Terminators hide weapons inside the bodies of humans.

[@HolzDennis]

Ktothe Swiss Sounds cool 😅

[@palpadur1112]

one of them, a more advanced liquid metal model called the T-XA, hid a plasma rifle inside its own body. it wasn't in a comic though, it was in a T2 book.

[@therealdebater]

I like the theory that the T-1000 mimics biotic material on its surface. Specifically, it mimics the bio-electric characteristics of real human cells enough to satisfy the TDE. I would add the idea that the T-1000 is only able to perform this level of mimicry on one human model, its 'base' model, to which it keeps returning because it can mimic this model more accurately than any of the ones it has scanned. It does not mimic anything internally; it doesn't need to and it would have difficulty with the fluids.

[@wasteoftime5848]

I always figured it was "close enough" to organic matter down to a cellular level. Remember Reese said in was the "energy" field generated by living tissue not the presence of traditionally organic material in a structure.

[@someblokenameddave]

I had two theories, three if you include "plot armour". One of which was touched on in the video with the mimetic polyalloy mimicing flesh so well that it was able to withstand the destructive effect of the time displacement field. The second theory is that the mimetic polyalloy is in some way organic. I know that in T2 it's explained to John Conner that it's liquid metal but that could have been a simplistic and dumbed down response to John having no understanding of what mimetic polyalloy really is. So rather than trying to explain it in an exact scientific manner, the Terminator just flatout lied and gave John an answer he could understand. This allows the Terminator to get on with his programmed mission rather than wasting precious time trying to educate a scared adolescent who would have little to no chance of understanding the real science behind the T1000. Theory three: plot armour, because reasons.

[@itsRyanSlasher]

I never u understood how he teleported because technically in T-1 they said it was a last ditch effort by skynet to send something back in time and they beat it and won, so how could skynet send a second one?

[@alexbolte2401]

RyanTitanic different time line. The first terminator and second terminator are almost identical timelines with a few things different in each respected timeline. It’s essentially a paradox so it’s hard to explain. The first movie was the Sarah Conor timeline where as the second terminator is the John Connor timeline. I forget who did a video on this but they explained pretty well. I think it was called the 3 terminator timelines or something to that extent.

[@jameshetherington1]

To be fair you could argue that t-1 was going off the information Kyle had before he got sent back, we couldn't know for certain that Skynet was defeated Also the resistance and Skynet keep messing with time

[@RikkiSan1]

To be honest I've always had issues with the whole time traveling and organic and non organic thing. I think it was a way for them to explain why they couldnt bring back future weapons, but it just causes a lot of logical issues especially with the T 1000. If I could retcon that I would explain how the TDE basically tears you apart on a molecular level and reconstructs you whenever you time travel back through time. And that having extra stuff complicates the reconstruction and could kill you hence why they travel naked.

[@sexistatheist6464]

This theory brings to mind the telepods from The Fly films (both the 1958 and 1986 versions), or Star Trek transporters to a lesser extent (which have been known to fuse separate entities when malfunctioning). At first thought, it seems like a great way to explain why weapons can't be brought through the TDE. However, it doesn't explain why weapons couldn't be transported separately from a human or a Terminator. Also, both humans and Terminators are already extremely complex, so it seems slightly odd that the TDE can reconstruct both perfectly, and has no problem transporting a T-800 with a layer of flesh wrapped around it, yet it can't handle a human wearing clothes.

[@jonservo]

If it tore you apart on the molecular level wouldn’t the robotic endoskeleton of the terminator be just as bad as any weapon they carried with them as far as reconstruction was concerned? Not trying to be nit picky, it’s just a question that came to mind while thinking about it. The method of time travel in this series seems kind of akin to warp travel to me. The traveler is surrounded by a powerful field of energy which allows them to slip through the time stream, kind of like the way ships in Star Trek create a warp field around themselves allowing them to “ride” the space distortion for faster than light travel. In this case I guess they could say that non organic materials mess with the field integrity and if it collapses you are shredded at the molecular level by the energies involved. It doesn’t really explain why t1000 gets a pass and makes it through okay, but that’s the problem when technology is made up first and then we try to use science to explain it afterwards. Have you ever read Timeline by Micheal Chricton? He has a time travel method in that book very similar to the one you describe. If not you would probably find it interesting

[@Wazza555]

​@@jonservo you get it. Space time is not just surface level, therefore the entire structure would also need to be organic.

[@lukeskywalker6809]

The best theory is this: Because Cameron said so. Period.

[@ismailtroxler1]

😆😂

[@kanegrimley8641]

Shut up

[@lukeskywalker6809]

@@kanegrimley8641 You shut up

[@lucaswhoelse9958]

@@lukeskywalker6809 in it

[@lifeofslade]

i've been a huge fan of the Terminator for years but i haven't actually thought of this

[@OrangeHatReviews]

The Special Edition of T-2 explains how T-1000 was able to. It had a tissue skin that it later sloughs off off-screen.

[@me4067]

Orange Hat Reviews You’re absolutely right. It was omitted as to not confuse the audience. Since it happens offscreen.

[@comingviking]

If that is a fact, omitting it in the theatrical Version is an example of the laziest story telling ever. It would have been appreciated by all the geeks and nerds out there, who THINK about such details and care about the lore, and for everyone else it would not have mattered. I think NO ONE would have been confused.

[@me4067]

comingviking Yeah, I know what you mean. Unfortunately, the casual movie goer doesn’t like to use their brain all that much. Which, is usually who they try to pander to to make as much money as possible. 😕

[@stoltobot]

Michael Rodriguez and then they come back for a second slurp of the money trough with the ‘Special Extended Directors Masterpiece Cut Edition’ for the thinking people

[@iggytse]

I’ve always held that theory. Good to have this confirmed. Sky net just give the T10000an organic skin similar to T800 and that skin was shed after time travel.

[@zacimusprime4865]

Now this is a very mysterious question and I think the T-1000 was able to time travel because it can copy organic matter on a cellular level I mean we do see him with skin outside his liquid metal don’t we

[@tristanbackup2536]

Basically. It is made of nanobots, it can mimic near anything on the periodic table.

[@zacimusprime4865]

Tristan Backup what about bio matter ?

[@Johny40Se7en]

I like that theory and it got me thinking that maybe the T-1000 can change its atomic structure into different elements more like an animals'. Kind of like, let's say in metal morphing form it's like a hydrogen / carbotanium alloy or something but then to go through time it could change its atoms to be more like the way the Human body is made like Carbon Hydrogen and maybe a synthetic calcium and so on. Or maybe it can turn inert kind of like titanium is inert because it can be used inside the Human body without contaminating anything, that's why its used in bad bone accidents and stuff.

[@ganador13]

"I like that idea, therefore it is canon" No, the director just did not bother addressing this. THATS how the T-1000 was able to travel back in time. It's a movie, remember?

[@alekskot9240]

same thought with you

[@Gaz-Lazaruz]

So much more to T2 when you take a step back and analyse it. As advanced the T1000 was, it never got close enough to even touch a hair on John's head. Besides the car chase at the mental hospital but still... No contact.

[@lepterfirefall]

gaz shaw not true....John touched the fragment embedded in the car after the hospital escape to throw it on the road. It could have copied him.

[@Gaz-Lazaruz]

Peter James Ledwith that's very true and I never really thought of it in that sense. In my own personal knowledge I imagine for the T1000 to truly copy something it wud need to be attached to it as a whole. Meaning where the chip is in the T1000. If you remember the deleted scene where he scans John's room, It uses its fingers to scan and I imagine that this is sending information directly to the chip to process and register. John did indeed touch and throw the piece of T1000 but I'm not sure how much information it needs to copy John Connor based on a finger print once it reached. Unless I'm smoking too much weed and over thinking but if that's the case... How did he copy the night security guard when no physical contact was made bcos the guy was wearing shoes so therefore there is no actual physical contact. It's best to take these movies with a Pinch of Salt.

[@lepterfirefall]

gaz shaw too true...I wonder where the chip was in the t1000. How can it communicate with a seperate part? Its a movie. A very good one that's just meant to be enjoyed.

[@SpielSatzFail]

I don't think there's something like a chip... it's all floating.

[@dumpeeplarfunny]

Here's a simpler theory: the unique alloys making up the T-1000 react differently to time displacement, and are a single exception to the rule about what can go back in time.

[@Pointlesshandle48]

“Nothing dead will go” maybe the T1000 isn’t technically “dead”

[@TommyCurrell]

It probably can just tank the damage? I mean the T1000 can take punishment that would destroy a gun or a T800 easy.

[@theradgegadgie6352]

That isn't the issue. The issue is that "nothing dead will go". Not that TDE would damage non-living material too much to survive the journey, but that it simply wouldn't send it. The TDE would finish all its rotations and flashing and then would shut down and the dead stuff would still be there.

[@AlexanderKusakin]

Good theory, but it doesn't explain TX time travel though.

[@mef12727]

Thomas Currell not true. Think about how the T1000 died. Molten lava. The amount of punishment in the time field is significantly more than being trapped in molten lava.

[@MugenZeroX]

The flesh pod idea was used in the first RoboCop Terminator comic. That was how Murphy traveled back to the past after he built a Terminator body for himself. In order to travel back he made a massive pile of flesh to encase himself

[@williammason3229]

There's another question that's been bugging me . When John asked why the T1000 couldn't turn into a gun. And was told that it had too many complex parts and chemicals. Yet he can mimic humans but DNA would be far more complex.

[@bobo577]

It’s probably able to form a human shape superficially. Why it’s able to form details I am not sure.

[@WallKenshiro]

How plot holes can get us all thinking and talking so analytically never ceases to amaze me. The "flesh pod" theory is one I've always subscribed to when trying to fill this paticular plot hole.

[@Mrdennismalloy]

Maybe the time displacement operator is playing a joke on them by saying "oh by the way. You have to go naked." ;)

[@calangel]

I was thinking that since this model is liquid metal, it just wouldn't matter if it's ripped apart as it just comes back together. There wasn't anything odd to me as a kid about why ripping apart clay isn't the same thing as ripping apart paper.

[@plummet3860]

Its in the terminator comic book skynet grew bioshells/fleshsacks so the t1000 etc could time travel

[@scythwing]

maybe it had human skin when it first time travels then destroys that when it first changes shape

[@Zman82]

My theory for this is that they f***** up. Kyle Reese in the first Terminator clearly says that the reason the Terminator can travel like he did is because of the living tissue the T 1000 has none it merely mimics the look of living tissue.

[@farrdawgjoker7087]

I've always wondered why would they not send an engineer Terminator that could build a small army of other Terminators to hunt John Conner down since they know 1 on1 fights do go their way. The Terminator engineer could be made to fit the nuculer batteries for the newly created terminators under the skin. If they can't send materials back then they would know where everything needed to build them was located. Even if it only built 1, considering has close the fight with only 1 was that if their where 2 or more would be unstoppable. Plus until the terminator shows up nobody was hidding or running. This has bothered me as much as the T-1000's liquid metal skin being able to come back through time.

[@nickmitsialis]

That is a theory I kind of like! As I recall in the Sarah Connor Chronicles, there seemed to be a pre-skynet organization (along with Human 'collaborators') working to bring Skynet into existence called 'Kaliba'. Kind of like the Myron Stark Terminator and how IT created the building it was supposed to assassinate a future Resistance subordinate, when it went too far back in time.

[@Largo01]

Something quite similar happened in the T2 book trilogy by SM Sterling. Skynet put a package of CPUs and small batteries under the skin and the rest had to be built in the present.

[@nickmitsialis]

Ah yes...the infamous 'Serena Burns' model. I rather liked that book--ESPECIALLY how (SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS!!!!) Dieter Von Rossbach was a 'retired' Austrian Counter Terrorist Operative who 'sort of resembled' a certain Skynet Infiltration unit (or a certain Austrian bodybuilder turned actor).

[@apophis40123]

We know that the T800 has a organic skin put over it. By that logic we can assume that the T1000 also had an organic skin over it prior to going through the TDE. We see him in a human form right away after the time travel, and while we do see him take damage during the mall, its possible that the actual skin was melted/burned off when the truck was destroyed in the fire under the bridge...just my thought.

[@StefSis]

I was hoping you would answer how the two terminators in T2 time travelled since the movie lore established that the terminator in the first movie time travelled just before Skynet lost the war. How's things lining up on that front?

[@ZetaRho62]

Each time they send back terminators a new timeline is created

[@T800-k6p]

THANK YOU. How did the skynet in the T2 timeline know that the previous attempt with a t800 failed? Mere chance that it decided to send a t1000 to a different time? Same with T3, how did skynet know it failed twice? That's never explained at least from what I'm aware

[@limabravo6065]

They wrapped it in a flesh covering, case solved

[@robertaylor9218]

Great video, personally I always hated the T-1000 conceptually, loved the scenes and the character though, so I had a conflicted childhood.

[@ICE9RLN0]

In the first script I do believe your pod thing was there but they didn't have time to film it.

[@InimicusSolitus]

This is semi-correct. Cameron decided not to use it, as it would be confusing to the audience, and also spoil the reveal that the T-1000 was not human.

[@ICE9RLN0]

looks like you know more about this than I do.

[@davidguymon1673]

I think I like your explanation the best. I like the idea that his molecular structure can design itself down to the molecule to fool the time displacement equipment.

[@TheZXKUQYB]

The mimetic polyalloy was placed(slowly injected) into a captured human. So its initial shape is actually someone captured by Skynet not its first assimilated person as we all believed. So the 'Robert Patrick' form is actually what the T-1000 was painfully grown in, in the future. Skynet puts the T-1000 into the time stream. Once the T-1000 is on the other side, it is activated, all the nano particles form together, takes the shape of the host and killing it at the same time (nanonized body parts are blown in all directions) Also serves as another purpose, allowing it physically copy the shape of a known person for quick infiltration in human population. The copy the host is a one time deal for a T-1000 and cannot be redone. T-1000 is trapped in the past and will always default to the Robert Patrick mold/shape because it is the T-1000's actual default form. So it is the procurer idea to the T 3000. Except the host is just mold and flesh body for 1 time use in time travel. Probably kinda silly I guess.

[@LanIaFortroSha]

In the novelisation; the T-1000 came out of a giant 'stamp' imprinted with a human form.

[@youreviltwinLP]

That's a really cool idea. I think one of the comics had a group of Terminators go through time, along with a captive human, who they had inserted a plasma gun into his torso. Upon arrival they ripped the gun out of his body. Your idea works on the same good logic, put the T1000 metal into a human captive just to get it back through time. Although... given the significant size and mass of the T1000 - as big as a human - it's hard to imagine injecting that much metal into a person and them surviving. Hmm. That's the one problem with that idea.

[@josephclayton8702]

No, it wasn't grown on a human. I read the Terminator 2 book, and after the resistance captured the complex, they found a modified t-800 flesh bonding machine with a small port built into it to introduce the mimetic poly-alloy into the flesh bonding process. So, in essence, the t-1000 model is an advanced and modified t-800

[@Phoenix2312]

@TheZXKUQYB HOLY SHIT MAN! THATS DARK! But I F**CKING LOVE IT! I think the answers are way more simple than that really - but DAMN THAT'S GOOD! And would have been Great to see on screen! WOW!

[@CptKennyLoggins]

Perhaps the movie gave us the answer at the end when the T-1000 was thrown into the molten metal. The T1k constantly inverted itself to minimize exposure/damage. Maybe it started with twice the amount of liquid alloy knowing that a certain amount would be destroyed in the process.

[@Xyos212]

What about nothing is done? Being "ripped apart" without organic material is something the T-1000 could easily endure when hes traveling back. The T-800 could not deal with those kinds of forces, hence the skin. He simply goes back in time, is ripped apart (but comes back together as hes liquid metal), and that's it.

[@MRDicristofaro]

that depends on how its being ripped apart , if its on the molecular level it would still destroy it out right

[@charleschamp9826]

I prefer the, as Mr. H put it, "organic pod" idea. It just seems to be the simplest solution to me and everything needed for that method we already know exists thanks to the T-800 series of Terminators. Plus there's nothing in the films themselves to suggest that the mimic aspect of polyalloy goes any deeper than making the surface look like whatever it's trying to mimic, it doesn't have to structure organs on the inside in order to pass as human, which would leave more processing power for other tasks like figuring out the best way to act human, get close to a target, etc.

[@FeelinB]

In the T2 Ultimate Edition DVD, on the Directors Commentary, James Cameron said the lack of flesh covering was a mistake and it would have basically a flesh covering that should have been left on the ground when it showed up and the cop found it.

[@cptmachine]

Given the T1000 time travels in human form I’ve always believed it emulates human flesh.

[@matts1166]

I always just assumed Skynet repurposed the skin from the 800 series. It's there and it works, why screw with making something new? Make a T-1000, make it take a roughly T-800 shape, run it through the skinning machine, and poof, temporary time travel suit.

[@comingviking]

The T-1000 could time travel because reasons. Specifically, the reasons are that somebody came up With a really cool concept for a NeXT Gen Terminator and was unwilling to give it up.

[@tangoseal1]

They just wrapped him in a bundle of flesh and shipped him through - you guys th8ink too deep

[@mikeb53]

I was going to say the same thing... prior to time displacement, skynet probably just covers the T-1000 in a layer of living tissue much like the T-800/850's were and then when the T-1000 reaches the point in time its going, boom, it just ditches the skin and its all polyalloy from there. Simple as that.

[@bloodydove5718]

except we see the t-1000 arrive, and there is no meatsack. And the whole reason any terminator was sent back, was because it was a rushed job for a last ditch effort to win the war. There was no time to grow a meatsack; the only reason the T-800 and T-850 were ready with organic material prior to being sent back, was because infiltration units like them had been used in the field for years already. They werent made specifically for this (nor was the t-1000). Timetravel was a very new thing in each of these timelines, that was Just used or the first time in each of these timelines

[@bloodydove5718]

@@lyles32386 Skynet still wants to be made

[@wallacewallaby5782]

This one seems to be the most obvious and what I had always assumed. After reaching the past, it can shed the useless skin.

[@wallacewallaby5782]

@@lyles32386 Mostly plot holes, that's why. The Terminator's battery is apparently a small nuke by itself, so there's no reason they couldn't have a Terminator detonate the device when in range. It was explained in T2 that a t-800 can't self terminate, but seems like it would be easy enough for Skynet to create a suicide bomber terminator that would guarantee the death of John or Sarah.

[@TheCastellan]

4:56 In Robocop vs the Terminator, Murphy did that to travel back to the past, he was in a large 'blob' of flesh, which he burst out of after the time jump.

[@bronhanrylghan2712]

PLOT ARMOUR :D !!!

[@freedomlover9560]

A couple theories here. 1. It gets smashed to bits as we would expect, but it "globs" itself back together - like the facory scene in T2 when he melts. 2. He can morph into any human he touches, but never needs to find clothes. It can only be assumed that the clothing that materializes on his body has the same everything actual fibers would have. Why not flesh? 3. He comes equipped with equipment that distorts the time displacement field to cause it to ignore the materials he is made from.

[@jollygoodfellow3957]

"Guns and explosives have *chemicals,* moving parts. *It doesn't work that way.* But it can form *solid metal shapes.* "

[@spottedhorsecannotbekilled4409]

Knives and stabbing weapons...

[@genkidamatrunks6759]

I swear I remember them answering this in the T3 movie adaption novel.

[@joshual2704]

A phased plasma riffle in the 40 watt range...THATS HOW!!

[@MrMpm3001]

“Hey... just what you see pal!” “The Uzi 9 millimeter”...

[@julesvox]

Skynet trolled the resistance and the time displacement equipment can actually send back pretty much anything.

[@NotYourAverageNothing]

Or… This is entirely a Genisys-created plot hole.

[@srikrishna2561]

How ? T1 Kyle said that nothing inorganic will go. T2 itself challenged this. Why are you bringing Genisys here.

[@MisterSouji]

I think the problem with a few of these theories is that the t-1000 was stated to not be advanced enough to create complex machinery, as well as its body is able to break down to smaller peices and reassemble. I always imagined the time machine works similar to a microwave (Kyke mentioned heat and a flash of light). Also note the electricity when someone time travels. I think the t-1000 simply reshapes its body to something less metallic. You cant microwave something metal because it reflects the light waves, and sharp points tend to cause more problems. But it IS possible to put aluminium foil in a microwave, as long as its flat and you have something else in there. What if the t1000 created a non reflective, smooth and slightly porous shape, EXACTLY how its seen in the movie? Something like this shouldn't set off a microwave.

[@radmegax]

Terminator: The Tempest. A group of Terminators travel back in time, but use a captured human to put a weapon inside of him. Flesh Bag if you will. It ain't pretty.

[@cobraninja2968]

I hope a fan 3D prints that gun for cosplay

[@DanRamosDR]

My favorite is a good technical reasoning that the TDE's rule of only transmitting organic material (or inorganic material wrapped in organic) with an exception to the rule with the mimetic material. It would stand to reason that Skynet would have designed this artificial material to be compatible with its own TDE technology despite being made of a kind of liquid metal. It would also make sense that it would then use that same material as the new and improved artificial skin for future models like the T-X for many of the same reasons.

[@chrisbaughman9860]

Well u would think based on the t-800 the t-1000 uses organic living human tissue just like the t-800 but is applied while the liquid metal is in its solid humanoid default state and able to replicate the human tissue if damaged on a cellular level

[@AMC2283]

Ferro fluids are often coated in organic solvents to prevent clumping as a matter of course. That could explain a few things

[@Naga-Raja]

you suggest that it could restructure itself at a cellular level and ask about the polyalloy showing when it gets hit, well as the t-800s only need a thin-ish outer layer of skin to go thorough time then maybe the t-1000 only makes a thin layer of it's mimetic alloy into the "skin" and it takes a lot for the t-1000 to do so thus during time displacement it is solely focusing on that so that it doesn't get torn apart but when fighting an getting shot etc. it would be seen as a waste of processing/effort on it's systems for no real benefit at that point since if it is being attacked then by definition it would have been discovered and infiltration would be a no go?

[@Lotuswolf14]

I like the theory that the T-1000 is able to change itself on a cellular structure the most. I would like to add to it that it could possibly be changing the cellular only on the outermost layer of itself, which would explain why that when shot it immediately shows the liquid metal underneath. And the blood and other living components may not be necessary to time travel, just the organic outside layer.

[@TheFarrierphil]

Didnt Dark Horse comics cover this not long after the movie was released. Skynet sent a gun through the machine sown into a living human host. So I'm going flesh cocoon 👍👍

[@nicholasdickens2801]

TheFarrierphil What I said. I’d imagine it’d be a gross construct like say a sort of Flesh bag with blood vessels, skin, etc, the T1000 is encased in that and it just transports that back to the past. Maybe like Odo said in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine... suck up blood and bleed it out that when it transports it bleeds or weeps the blood out totally covering itself in blood.

[@TheFarrierphil]

Nicholas Dickens yeah, that sounds about right 👍👍. I'll dig out my old Dark Horse collection and have a recap!!

[@nicholasdickens2801]

TheFarrierphil In the first story ‘Tempest’ I believe they just stitched a blaster (phased Plasma handgun) into the stomach of the Resistance Fighter. Then ripped it out of him. :(

[@TheFarrierphil]

Nicholas Dickens haha, yes indeed Nicholas, i sent a pic of it to MrH to let him know. Classes as an 'organic gun case'👍👍.

[@nickmitsialis]

I remember that graphic novel--as I am wont to say: Unsubtle to say the least.

[@happytrails151]

Terminator 1 and 2 were smart in having the time travel exposition early on and not dwelling on it throughout the films. Overall, it was great to just have the T 1000 even though it didnt make sense with the stated rules

[@juyoungjeong860]

Couldnt t-1000 simply wear a synthetic skin like t-800 but temporary, just for time travel?

[@MrJakku26]

That's what I was thought.

[@Papai_Pai]

I’m with you

[@rojay1214]

The complicated want to believe they could only do that for earlier crappier model, As if the tissue can distinguish a 1000 mimicking an 800

[@TheUnTrustable0]

Instead of a human-organic package, it is a box or whatever material that might be based on organic material. "Chronicles of Sarah Connor" there was also a liquid terminator packed in a box, as far as i remember... frozen and well. Thats why i came with the 'box' idea.

[@emery2310]

This makes sense because there was a pod-like device for time travel for the Terminators when they arrived in the past(T-1000 in the fence, T-850 in the back of the truck and T-X in the store). In comparison, Kyle was not and was dropped brutally into the past.

[@ToiletGrenade]

I've always thought they should have played with the idea of sending stuff that's inside a sort of flesh sack that you cut open, they could have had the T-1000 time travel in a sort of flesh egg that it has to cut itself out of upon arrival

[@blindtruth4614]

The answer is that the first Terminator movie made so much money and they needed to show off the new computer graphics they had at the time so they said screw the franchise lore and just had the T1000 come through time without explanation. I am sure in the first Terminator they also said that there was only one time machine and that it was destroyed once, Kyle Reese had traveled through it as well.

[@blindtruth4614]

Well given the low budget of the original Terminator I doubt it would have been feasible, the stop motion on the T800 looked pretty bad even back in 1985 so going for something more complex would have been a very bad idea.

[@LanIaFortroSha]

The Time machine was destroyed; but they sent back the second terminator after Kyle left and didn't bother telling him about it. After all; if they told him that Sarah and John would need another guardian, ten years after him, he might start to wonder why...

[@keithlarcombe4694]

Time machine destroyed,Time machine repaired,Time travel restored.

[@SpielSatzFail]

LanIaFortroSha Legit :-) I always assumed they discovered the T1000's time travel AFTER Kyle had gone through. Simple as that :-)

[@Robert_Douglass]

I read the novelisation once, and I think it was said that the 1000 shifted its shape to flow around and cover part of one of the rotating field generators and then simulate an organic bioelectric field to facilitate the time-travel evolution. There was no organic flesh covering to protect it as it proved superfluous and unnecessary. If there was an internal TDE, it was a one-use item, completely expendable, and most likely it disintegrated and became part of the T-1000's mimetic polyalloy structure (which, if you ask me, I think was a misnomer as I believe the T1000 was a nanotech Terminator)

[@CoffeeFiend1]

I remember when my dad let me watch T2 when I was very young. My mom was against it. My dad I remember was waffling on about how I knew the difference between real violence and bad language and the real world and how I'd understand the concepts lel. He gave me a brief synopsis of the liquid metal terminator a few days prior and basically said "wait for it" to my mom when he first appeared. And little ole me instantly bought up about how if he was metal he shouldn't have been able to go through... My dad was like "SEE" and my mom was like okay fine he can watch it cos he's a smart ass. Me and my dad always hypothesised that really they should just send him through encased in like a cow or something or a big jiggly ball of meat.

[@myevilangelofdeath]

*Top 10 questions science cant explain*

[@DRock1042]

Some ways: 1. They had the T-1000 form itself into a globe and then they encased it inside a giant flesh ball. After traveling, the fleshball is burned up. 2. Skynet managed to upgrade its TDE so it could accept metal. This theory makes sense since Skynet is always upgrading its Terminators. 3. Like you said, the T-1000 had a one-time use TDE generator for it to use. 4. Like you discussed, the T-1000 had a way of "fooling" the TDE into transporting it.

[@bibi9672]

Some questions: 1. If living tissue gets burned up in the timetravel process then wouldn't this have happened to Reese and the two t-800s as well? 2. The first movie clearly stated that sending back the T-800 was SkyNet's last-ditch effort to prevent its own demise, for the resistance had won the war. So, how could SkyNet have possibly upgraded the TDE when it was already destroyed? 3. How exactly does this device circumvent the "nothing dead will go" problem? 4. But why, then, does it have to travel naked?

[@ArtofLunatik]

Nanos son

[@clarkkent6035]

Hahahaha caught that reference

[@ArtofLunatik]

Clark Kent lol nice, im happy to see that a journalist such as yourself caught that. ;)

[@pepe6666]

i think a simpler explanation as to the internal silver when he gets shot/damaged is that its only the surface which is being changed. it looks like the T1000 doesn't have the time to color its internals (we see it takes time for him to change). you can see slow injuries to the t1000 (iron bar thorugh his guts) where he can in fact colorize his internal geometry in time.

[@theepidemicpro2]

This the question I've had since childhood, having my uncle sneak me in the theater to see T2

[@0bsidianPrime]

Something I've been wondering about for a bit, it has been shown that a small section can be independant so long as it's near the main mass, so in theory, it could have small sections at a time form a different part, and have those parts interconnect, so it can form something like a motor and sawblade, assuming it can generate its own electrical charge to power the motor. With some bullets, it can form a gun, put those bullets in, and fire. Another possible idea for guns is it forms the barrel of a gun (it is a machine after all, it can do precision stuff like that) inserts the bullets in its body, and uses a small section of itself like a firing pin to strike the primer, making it fire. After all, the gun is only mechanical motion, to help point the bullet and strike the primer to ignite the gunpowder within the bullet.

[@drvonschwartz]

Likely theory: the director/writers left a huge, gaping plot hole.

[@kylelittle3122]

perhaps the luiquid metal can be stretched inside and out between the two realities the generator forces open

[@javiersaugar376]

My theory has always been that T2 is the start of a intersecting timeline. The further you go forward in the present; the further back you go in the future. In Terminator 1, Kyle Reese talks about how in the future war, The Resistance managed to finally break though the Central Defense grid to attack Skynet at it's core. As a final act to save itself from destruction, Skynet actives the TDE to send a T-800 infiltrator to 1984 to terminate Sarah Connor and prevent John from existing. Kyle talks about how only living organisms can be sent through the time stream and how shortly after he was sent after the Terminator. They destroyed the TDE. Obviously this then begs the question how could Skynet still end up sending the T-1000 at a later date? How could the T-1000 be sent back at all given it's liquid metal?. The way I see it: the future war we see in T2 happens earlier than the events of T1. It would explain why the TDE would still be around to be used by Skynet and the Resistance. Furthermore in T1 the Resistance could accurately determine what year Skynet sent the Terminator and T2 shows they have done it. How did the T-1000 get sent back? Well it's not the cleanest explanation but it's the only one that makes sense to me. Kyle was unaware that other materials and organism could be sent back in time as well if they mimic some form of organic matter. I would guess that the liquid body allowed T-1000 to mimic the consistency of blood or plasma and within the sheath of the alloy it kept itself contained. Remember that unlike previous models there is no Endoskeleton and no need to have living tissue on top of the body. But by appearance he already is built to resemble a human and.can pass for.one convincingly. I know it's a sloppy shot in the dark but it would make sense that when T2 was happening in the future. Kyle Reese was off on a mission and wasn't anywhere near John. John is the one to send the reprogrammed t-800 to 1991 to protect himself. It's possible the knowledge that more, besides just living organisms was held in confidentiality by John and why Kyle would think only he and the t-800 could move through time without being able to bring weapons or armor from their time.

[@martin023dm]

I agree that the best theory is that the T-1000 is copying living tissue on a cellular level. Showing the alloy when shot doesnt really have to be a plot hole either when the organic matter it copies would only have to be skin surface deep because every other terminator only needed an organic sheeth to pass off as human. The result of the exposed liquid metal when taking damage could be the resulting kinetic energy disrupting its mimicking ability. Also, the T-800 was able to travel through time because it was covered in living tissue, so the T-1000 having a layer that mimics organic matter around itself would do just as well to fool the time machine, the fact that the T-1000 arrives in the past looking like it's human cover and not in its alloy form might give this theory more credence.

[@summer7034]

In The t3 video game theres a cutscene where the Terminatrix is placed in a mimetic polyaloy ball which protects the Terminatrix from being ripped apart by the Time Displacement System (TDE).

[@qwaurk985]

The novel it was encased in a flesh cocoon. After traveling into the past it broke out and took the form of the first person it killed - the police officer investigating the ruckus of its arrival.

[@abucket14]

My theory is that Kyle Reese is not a scientist (he is a soldier) and made an assumption that you needed to be living tissue to go through time but didn't realize that the reason why the terminator was sent back while surrounded by living tissue was because he was an infiltrator and a humanoid robot with future guns running around is sure to draw the attention of the military, meanwhile a regular austrian bodybuilder is not going to be nearly as suspicious. that being said the reason why the Terminator was sent back without a weapon was simply because he could easily procure one. the reason why Kyle was sent back without a weapon however might just be that the amount of heat during the time travel is so great that it would have burned him or (if it were plastic) melted, or perhaps that they can only send one object at a time and didn't have enough time to send him a gun maybe even that its too imprecise where he would land so that if it would have to be two separate time travel instances that could end up in the same general area (such as the same city) but be nowhere near one another. maybe they just didn't know you could send metal back, but i assume that the heat would have set off the primer for the bullets causing some... unintended death and other side effects.

[@muselessmusician]

My personal theory is that the t-1000 is "shipped" with a organic skin covering ( kind of like the flesh cocoon theory) that as it takes damage, the memetic poly alloy "heals" the flesh is simply allowed to die, because the t-1000 has no need for since it can already mimic humans. Just my two cents.

[@nebohtes]

I already saw the comment a few times, but I always just went with the idea that it couldn't be torn apart like a machine. Just like Arnie's feet didn't burn off because he was standing on molten glass...

[@aaronwolfe9640]

Yautja and Terminator videos? Thats awesome.

[@KellyStarks]

In the first movies Kyle said the time machine interacted with bio electric fields. Not interacting with biology, but with the electric fields of a living thing. Given T-1000's can alter the electromagnetic field on it to apear visually as whatever it is trying to look like ( I.e. Manipulating light reflecting off it). Mimicking or generating the electric fields of a organism would be trivial.

[@000FireRainHavoc000]

I never understood that whole "Nothing dead will go!" from part 1? Why? Is there a real theory about it or just for story?

[@deoncuba5168]

I LOVE THIS THE T-1000 WAS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER OF ALL THE TERMINATOR FRANCHISE AND TO ME IT WAS MORE VIOLENT VICIOUS AND JUST ALL AROUND BADASS👈😊😁😁😁💪💪❤👌

[@VeritechGirl]

I have a question - what would a terminator do if it ever succeeded at its assassination mission? Would it self destruct or something?

[@AMC2283]

as far as we know, they're not allowed to self terminate. my guess is if it killed John/Sarah, it would go after the secondary targets. and then find a safe place to wait out judgment day, and keep killing. maybe give Skynet of 1997 more advanced technology earlier than before, end the war that much sooner. no limit to what it can do afterwards.

[@adamy.7053]

Calibrations? Theory: When in testing phases, the designers/technicians(humans or machines) would first use a 'marker' or specimen -- nondescript -- for 'time porting' purposes(will say the object was sent a day into the past). Each phase was then evaluated based on presupposed conditions(measurements, weight, material, length of time). After several trials, the time machine's running program(s) would have a config-setup for each of the success 'markers', replete with process executors, fail-rate peripherals, 'nanny' algorithms, etc. Or in other words, the time machine was used before, with many different test subjects and all ready programmed to handle different requests. But the real question I have: Was the first T-800 sent by SkyNet the first live production? If it were, it would certainly be an unusual gamble even for a self-aware A.I.

[@robythemythosman9392]

Would like to see a Terminator Explained on the TS-300

[@bluejaygamer9476]

The T-1000 creates a bio synthetic skin that covers over its metal liquid material and when the skin cover is damaged by live ammo the skin is displaced and the metallic material absorbs the bullets. The liquid metal technically eats the bullets. To answer all the theories on how the time travel device works, it works only with LIVE organic material, because a human generates a bio electric field that the device uses to latch the targeted bio mass to the respected time. Essentially, It uses the bio field as the temporal time clock. This also ties into why John Conner does not let anyone else tag along with his father in the first movie. Kyle has essentially a temporal bio field in two time frames for which the device can lock on and send him. If John were to send someone else along with Kyle then they would be sent to an earlier time in their past and not emerge with Kyle. In Genesis, the temporal mechanics are turned into a paradox which is why Kyle and Sarah could go forward in time as well because their bio fields were in those time frames of the paradox. Uh... My head. I hate temporal mechanics.

[@cryptoxenologist]

Your explanation on this subject I truly enjoy. And very in depth. I didnt know there were terminator comics. And actually, I myself remembering when the first Terminator debuted was thoroughly impressed by your facts. And let it be known, T2 was the end of the saga for me. Time travel in itself is a dicey subject.

[@RMJ1984]

I think the flesh cocoon is the best theory. Because we see it proven, the only way the T800 can go back is because it's metal part is covered in flesh, so it stands to reason the T1000 was also covered in some kinda flesh.

[@Echo_Reyes]

A better way that can help your theory is since the t800 has an organic skin what if the poly alloy only has to mimic only the surface layers of what it’s imitating which would make sense especially for tx as well

[@MacTX]

Because the TX could also time travel just fine, I just assumed the organic requirement aspect of time travel was only skin deep. It would explain how the T800 with an internal metal structure was also able to use the time travel machine just fine. The liquid metal is probably able to mimic living tissue so well that it doesn't run into an issue with using the time travel machine.

[@simonfisher7]

In the novel , I think it says that it was basically wrapped in organic sheath that was burned away as it arrived

[@Salty.Peasants]

My guess is that the time displacement unite is able transfer non living tissue, but at the cost of far higher energy requirements and at much less efficiency, which Skynet later remedied. The first movie had them sent back with a prototype unite using first generation technology plagued with the usual limitations and failures that accompany such early experimental technology.